I had never heard of the orders in council before, thanks for brining them to my attention. 🙂

I realize that the govt. of the UK is a long way from perfect, but at least they don’t ‘disappear’ anyone that speaks out against them. Chavez is not a man to be trusted with any measure of power.

I didn’t mean to suggest that military action should be taken, i apologize if my first post seemed a little war mongering. All i meant to say is that there needs to be some decent workable system for nations to show their disapproval of others and back it up with peaceful action.

Then again, the UK is quite happy to deal with Saudi, as you say. I wish there was another way, but i believe the UK should if at all possible avoid dealings with nations that follow actively un-democratic, oppressive governments and those that have notable human rights abuses. We can buy our cuddly toys and tv’s from nations other than china, and we should do so. As should the EU and the USA, but all that matters in the modern world is $$$$$$$ 🙁